In the games of billiards, pool, and snooker, playing balls are arranged in a pre-determined pattern on a flat rectangular table. Full size snooker and English billiard tables are 12 feet long. Pool halls typically have 9 foot tables and smaller halls may have 7 foot tables. The tables provide a platform for the games wherein the balls are struck with a stick for moving them around the table which is bounded by rubber cushions. Billiards is a game played without pockets. Pool is a game played with six pockets, and hosting probably the most notable game known as 8-ball or pocket billiards. Snooker is technically a pocket billiards game and popular in view of its historic divergence from other games. These games all require a level of skill and are extremely popular with individuals of all ages.
In playing the game of pocket billiards, the balls are arranged on the surface of a pool table by use of a racking frame. The game of eight-ball employs fifteen balls placed within the racking frame and positioned on the table surface at the start of the game. The racking frame is triangular shaped and allows for ease of collecting the balls for movement onto a desired position. Once the balls have been properly positioned, the framing rack is removed leaving the balls on the table in a specific triangular formation. Once the rack is removed from the balls, the formation is broken by a player propelling a cue ball by use of the cue stick in such a manner as to disperse the formation of balls across the playing surface. The way in which the formation of balls is broken is of utmost importance to how the ensuing game progresses.
When forming the triangular shaped pattern of balls, it is desirable to compact the balls into a tight group to achieve the optimal break. A tight grouping of ball allows for a transfer of energy between the balls whereas a loose group will allow for the quick dissipation of energy and lead to an unpredictable scatting of the balls. The better players understand the need for a repeatable set up and the ability to transfer energy through the ball configuration. By being able to repeat the exact racking format, a truer “break” of the group of balls can be obtained when an individual strikes the grouping with a cue ball. With a high level of skill, a player is capable of placing individual balls into definite locations on the table. The ability for such precise performance is dependent on the form and angle of the cue ball's contact with the racked balls.
Even with a skilled user, a tight pattern is not easily obtained using a conventional racking frame. This is due to the fact that the racks ordinarily used are sized to define an enclosure which is slightly larger than the group of balls. Further, a racking frame that is used at one location may differ from a racking frame used at another location. If the racking frame is large, to tighten the ball formation a player will urge the balls together by use of their fingers. However, when the player removes their fingers from racking frame, movement of the balls may inadvertently occur. The act of compacting the formation of balls within the racking frame such that they are set tightly together is commonly known as “tightening”. This technique allows for the maximum transfer of energy from the cue ball to the balls in formation, and provides a disperse spread of balls across the playing surface.
Known prior art dated back to 1880 includes patents drawn to the billiard or pool game. U.S. Pat. No. 230,652 disclosed a method of facilitating an arrangement of fifteen pool balls in an equilateral triangle so that they all touch or nearly touch each other. The frame consists of an equilateral triangular frame composed of three strips of wood, and with a bottom or slide adapted to the frame so as to be capable of being moved laterally into and out thereof, so that when within the frame such bottom, with the frame, shall constitute a shallow box or triangular tray for receiving the balls and causing them to assume positions relative to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 501,256 disclosed a wood or metal triangle for billiard balls which contains a hinge bottom, so that the balls can be placed on the table in a closed triangle, and then the triangle can be unhinged and removed without disturbing the balls.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,725,494 directed to a pool ball positioning frame with a base and two sides that are hinged to the base at opposite ends. There is a spring associated with each of the pivotal mountings, urging the sides inwards towards the base so that when all of the fifteen balls are gathered in between the base and the two sides, the triangle will tend to automatically position the balls in proper pyramidal arrangement, and the handles on each side member will assist when grasped and manipulated against the action of the springs. In addition, the sides are slightly shorter than the base, thus allowing the frame to be folded compactly when out of use.
Numerous products have been developed for racking billiards balls or assisting therewith. Unfortunately, these devices often have a complicated structure and are expensive in construction. Reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,671 that uses inclined walls within the rack to create downward pressure on the playing balls. U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,862 uses inclined walls within the rack to create downward pressure on the playing balls and further uses lifting levers to ensure that the compact formation of playing balls is not disturbed upon removal of the rack. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,601,495 and 5,735,750 use inclined walls to create downward pressure on the playing balls, and use springs to push the rack upward and away from the playing balls once the formation is compacted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,341 uses angled packing bars to create downward pressure on the playing balls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,404 discloses the use of individual pressure pins to create downward pressure on each individual playing ball. U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,005 that discloses a rack that uses horizontal pressure to compact the playing balls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,087 discloses a billiard ball rack having a triangular frame and a removable bottom so that when the balls are arranged in the rack and placed upon the pool table in the proper location, the balls may be dropped onto the table simply by withdrawing the bottom. The frame has slots in two of the side elements and a bottom wall pivoted at an apex between a rear wall and one of the side walls, and a latch normally latching the bottom wall in closed position and manually operable to release a biasing element for swinging the bottom wall to open position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,054 discloses a billiard ball rack for shaping a group of billiard balls on a pool table. This patent discloses leg members which when in a storage position enables the rack to be used as a standard triangular fifteen ball rack yet when moved to an alternate position, such leg members in combination with other rack portions enables the rack to be alternately used as a diamond shape nine ball rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,491,130 discloses a billiard/pool ball rack assembly consisting of a triangular rack and a detachable bottom plate and when joined, serves as a tray to encase the balls. When racking the pool balls, the unit is placed on the playing surface then the bottom plate is released from the triangle while the triangle along with the balls are rolled off the plate to the racking spot and the bottom plate which is now serving as a measuring gauge and is resting at the foot rail. Then the triangle with balls is backed up against the bottom plate and the triangle is lifted away from the balls for an accurate racking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,032, discloses a combination billiard rack convertible between two game configurations, such as a 15-ball configuration and a 9-ball configuration. The rack includes two side members and a base member that form an equilateral triangle defining an interior area in a plane of the rack capable of receiving and racking a plurality of billiard balls. Pivotal arms are provided on each of the side members. Each is pivotal about one fixed end at a location near a midpoint of each side member for pivotal movement about the fixed end in the plane of the rack. The arms are pivotal between a first position in which each arm is parallel with corresponding side members and a second position located within said interior area in which the arms are non-parallel with corresponding side members and act with the side members and base member to form an internal area of a size smaller than the first configuration. One or more movable arms can be provided on the base member to allow fuller motion of the pivotal arms. The rack can be locked in either of the two configurations in a releasable manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,341 discloses a billiard rack wherein balls are compressed towards the center of the rack from all sides of the rack simultaneously. The billiard ball rack has a retractable actuator that activates packing bars to compress the balls, and resets the packing bars to their original position after compression. The packing bars have an angled edge for seating the balls into the table surface when the retractable actuator is actuated. Additionally, this patent discloses a method of compacting balls by urging the balls from at least three sides to the center of a frame.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2002/0107076 A1, discloses a billiards ball rack including a frame having a plurality of side walls forming an opening. A plate is attached to a top surface of the frame, and includes inwardly and downwardly directed inclined surfaces for engaging an outer periphery of a group of billiards balls to compact the billiards balls into a desired configuration. The inclined surfaces define a cut-out portion of the plate, typically a triangle or diamond. The rack includes lifting levers pivotally attached to two side walls of the triangular frame. When a handle segment of the lever is grasped and pulled upward, a lower foot segment pivots and extends below a base of the frame to lift the frame from the playing surface, leaving the compacted billiards balls in the desired configuration on the billiard table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,405 discloses a pool ball racking system for tightly and evenly racking a set of pool balls in preparation for a beginning player's break. The system comprises an equilateral triangular racking frame within which the set of pool balls are placed. The racking frame is placed upon a napped felt surface of a pool table, with the pool balls located therein. A vibrating device secured to the racking frame is activated and causes the pool balls to resonate and settle into the nap of the felt surface, thus firmly setting the pool balls in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,540 discloses a billiards ball rack for assisting a user in racking billiard balls on a billiards table. The billiards ball rack preferably includes a bottle cap shaped shell having a circular outer wall with a plurality of ridges. A display wall, which can be used for advertising or otherwise displaying information, extends inwardly from the outer wall and ends in a ball rack portion. The ball rack portion includes side walls arranged in an appropriate configuration to rack the billiards balls prior to initiating the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,328 discloses a racking frame for one or more different billiard games wherein each of the games has a different placement of the balls at the outset. The device being substantially triangular is convertible to the starting configurations of each of the games by the hinged overlaying triangular member moving rotationally about its hinge point. Additionally, the external surface of the device has indentations for the placement of billiard balls in a newly created game.
U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2009/0029787 A1 discloses a device such as a snooker, pool or billiards ball rack for setting such balls in a formation for play. The device comprises a frame for receiving said balls and positioning the balls in formation. A display member is also provided which has indicia provided thereon and which is mountable to the frame to display said indicia. The indicia are typically in the form of commercial advertising indicia and/or corporate trademarks and/or logos, but may also convey a variety of information to the players and/or spectators of the game of snooker, pool or billiards.
The prior art references cited above use various mechanical means to compress the formation of balls within the rack and illustrate the lack of commonality. What is lacking in the art is a very important aspect of the framing rack, namely portability. Thus, what is needed is racking frame kit that can be easily disassembly to allow for transportability yet provide an exacting frame that allows an individual player to obtain the repeatability necessary for tightening the formation of balls within the racking frame kit to obtain the maximum transfer of energy from the cue ball to the balls in formation and provide a disperse spread of balls across the playing surface.